


As I lay me down to sleep

by majesticduxk



Series: NaNoWriMo 2020 [3]
Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: Exhausted Kise, Gen, GoM have weird ways of showing they care, Hurt Kise, Hurt/Comfort, Kagami is dragged along, Kise isn't good at looking after himself, Kise-centric, Mainly comfort, Mild Humour, Protective GoM, lonely kise, really they are a found family
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-16
Updated: 2020-11-16
Packaged: 2021-03-10 04:02:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,786
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27587191
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/majesticduxk/pseuds/majesticduxk
Summary: Kise is so tired. But being alone is so much worse. Luckily he has friends on his side.
Relationships: Kise Ryouta & Kiseki no Sedai | Generation of Miracles
Series: NaNoWriMo 2020 [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1995232
Comments: 14
Kudos: 96





	As I lay me down to sleep

**Author's Note:**

> a/n what’s that? Exhausted, overworked, lonely, Kise? Don’t mind if I do *handwaves schools in Akita and Kyoto cos this is fic* (also I KNOW that it takes longer to get to Kanagawa but *handwaves cos fic*)

Kise was so tired he could barely keep his eyes open. If he remembered correctly, it was Friday. This particular Friday that meant there was just the basketball game left for today, the one with the rest of the miracles. He always looked forward to them, but Tokyo was far, and they were exhausting 0 the game and the people. But it was only one thing. He could do one more thing. 

Tomorrow though… 

Abruptly, he slapped both hands over his cheeks. The ringing sound cleared his head as much as the stinging sensation. _Don’t even go there_ , he warned himself. God! He couldn’t even think about tomorrow. To be honest, it made him want to cry. 

One day at a time. That was the only way to get through this, one day at a time. Yes, technically he asked for this, but not for the first time he wondered if it was all too much? Shouldn’t his manager have asked that question? Maybe even followed up and made sure it was manageable, instead of jumping on it with enthusiasm and making sure he had no spare time until… No. no! There was no use thinking like that. He would get through it the only way he knew how: One. Day. At. A. Time. 

Okay. Basketball game. Get to it. Tip off was in an hour and a half. From his apartment it was a ten-minute walk to the train station, then 45 minutes on the train, and then another 15-minute walk to the court. If he could just lie down for half an hour, he’d only be ten minutes late. Akashi would glare daggers at him, but then hopefully he wouldn’t pass out on his feet.

Missing it wasn’t an option. Kise _had_ to be there. He’d already missed a few, so was a little in Akashi’s bad books, and even if that wasn’t a concern (which it was), he didn’t want to miss seeing his precious friends. He didn’t want this to be the start of another fracture – his heart couldn’t take it. And he really didn’t want to spend any more time than necessary in his empty apartment. But right now he was so tired… 

Collapsing face first on his bed, Kise meant to set his alarm, but was asleep so quickly, he forgot. 

~o~

“Has anyone seen Ryouta?”

All the players on the court froze. That was Akashi’s pissed off voice. 

“I haven’t seen him in a few weeks,” offered Midorima. “Not since the last time we met up for streetball.”

“Yeah, me neither. He hasn’t even texted me to play one on one.” Aomine actually sounded shocked at that. 

“Shouldn’t you be happy he’s not following you around,” Midorima was snarky. 

Which, coming from anyone other than Midorima, was probably fair comment. Aomine _had_ complained about it a lot over the years. But not in recent times, which he made very, very clear to Midorima.

Kuroko was looking thoughtful. “We played a practice game against Kaijo last week, and Kise was there.”

At last, something useful! Akashi thought. “And how was he, Tetsuya?”

Frowning, Kuroko considered. “I think he was under the weather? Maybe? He certainly wasn’t as exuberant as he normally was.”

Finally giving up on anyone else playing basketball, Kagami wandered over. “What Kuroko means, is that Kise didn’t throw himself all over Kuroko as soon as Kaijo arrived. And he seemed tired.”

“Tired and under the weather are similar, Kagami-jun.”

“Sure, but they’re still different.” Shrugging, he turned to the rest of them. “Anyway, none of you normally worry about Kise. Are we going to continue playing?”

“No.”

That was from Akashi. Of course it was. 

“As Kise has missed a number of our recent engagements, _and_ isn’t responding to any of my messages, Daiki, I want you to go to Ryouta’s. The rest of us will go shopping for enough food that we can all eat dinner together. Taiga, you’re the best cook, you come along as well.”

“What if I have other plans?” 

“Cancel them.”

Kagami deflated under the red-eyed stare. And that, apparently, was that. 

Not that it stopped Kagami complaining. “Why exactly are we all going to Kise’s? Since when did someone missing a game become an- _ow Kuroko your fingers are pointy!_ ”

~o~

Grumbling to himself, Aomine climbed the three flights of stairs to get to Kise’s apartment. When he got there though, he paused. Kise’s door was ajar. Had someone broken in and just left it open? The door didn’t _look_ like it had been forced. Quietly trying the doorhandle, he found it was unlocked. Who left their door unlocked? Even if Kanagawa wasn’t Tokyo, surely Kise had more common sense than that. Maybe he’d been in rush or something, in which case, why was he so late to the basketball court?

Frowning to himself, Aomine slunk silently into the entryway. He couldn’t hear anything, so he toed his shoes off before prowling into the house. It looked fine. Empty and clean. Hearing soft snuffles, Aomine followed the noise until he came to Kise’s room – where Kise was laid out on the bed. His socks were on, and his shirt had rucked up to reveal a pale and slim belly. It looked pretty wrong, Aomine thought. Kise was always lean, but he was meant to be strong, not frail. Eyes traveling higher, Aomine took in the dark shadows under Kise’s eyes. Even in sleep he looked exhausted – Aomine hated the think what he looked like awake. 

Reassured that there weren’t assailants in the apartment, Aomine had a quick sticky-beak. Honestly, the place was more boring than Kagami’s. There was a sofa, a TV, a dining table, and the kitchen. The TV was big, but the kitchen didn’t even have food, and not that he was a creepy stalker, but he couldn’t help noticing the bin was overflowing with cup noodle packages. On the breakfast bar was a giant diary, that was closed, but not for long. Aomine had a quick flick through and let out a soft whistle. Kise’s exhaustion was starting to make sense. 

“Fuck, Kise. Are there even enough hours in the day for this?”

Deciding that he was not the right person to deal with this, he rang Akashi. 

“Daiki.”

“Yeah, Kise’s home. But he’s sleeping and looks pretty tired. Pretty… uh… exhausted. When I got here the front door was open and unlocked, and there’s no food here. Making dinner is probably a good thing, although he looks like he’ll sleep through dinner. You far away?”

“He missed it because he was tired. I see. We’ll be there in 15 minutes. Stay there, Daiki. Put the kettle on if you can do it without burning down the kitchen.”

“Sure - oi-!” But Akashi had already hung up. “Rude.”

~o~

As Akashi hung up, Kuroko side eyed him. 

“If Kise-kun is tired, perhaps we should leave him alone.”

“That is precisely the reason we shouldn’t leave him alone.” Akashi paused. “That, and interrogations work better on exhausted people.”

Kuroko shuddered. Akashi was still a very scary person. 

~0~

When the rest of miracles (and Kagami) arrived, laden down with groceries and anything else they thought Kise would need, the blonde in question was still asleep. 

“It’s only been 15 minutes, Akashi. He probably couldn’t sense your impending arrival.”

Kagami looked at Midorima. He was probably being sarcastic, but given he was holding a giant plush Kappa because his _horoscope_ lady told him to you could never be too sure. Akashi just looked annoyed. Had he really expected Kise to wake up?

“Very well. Taiga, start preparing the meal. You may choose two people to assist you.”

Holding up a hand, Kagami got ready to argue, but Kuroko elbowed him in the side. With one of those sharp and painful elbows. Was anything about Kuroko not pointy?

Doubled over in pain, Kagami glared at Kuroko through tear filled eyes. 

“Murasakibara-kun and I will help you, Kagami-kun.”

He then pushed Kagami into the kitchen. 

“I know what you were going to say,” Kuroko said, as he started emptying out bags. “But Akashi-kun is worried right now, and you really don’t want to deflect his worry at Kise-kun into anger at you.”

Kagami might have argued, but not only did he still remember the scissors incident, he got side tracked watching Kuroko unpack the bags. He was piling things up that into dangerously unsteady piles, stacking ingredients that just didn’t go together, until finally he couldn’t take it. Pushing Kuroko out of the way, and ordering him to sit at the breakfast bar, Kagami looked around the kitchen until he found an apron. Pulling it over his head, he rummaged through the kitchen draws and he found a wooden spoon. Task accomplished, he pointed it at his minions. 

“Right, find me three pots, a chopping board, a good knife-“

As he rattled off the list of what he needed, he missed Kuroko’s small and satisfied smile. 

~o~

Akashi wandered around the room. It didn’t look very lived in. In fact, in some ways it reminded him of his father’s house. Backtracking to the genkan, a quick check showed it was mainly Kise’s shoes – plus the addition of six more boys – and the non-Kise shoes were found at the back of the shoe cupboard. Given the dust and spiderwebs on them, it looked like they hadn’t been moved in a while. 

So logically, no one else lived here. Which was a little concerning - Kise was sixteen and living alone. That didn’t seem very suitable. Taking in the rest of the house, his initial impressions of emptiness were confirmed. It was devoid of any of the touches that made it a home. An even stronger and more unwelcome reminder of his father’s house. While the house displayed very little of Kise’s personality, his diary was much more Kise – the cover was some brash and bright geometric pattern that made Akashi’s eyes hurt, but the actual contents, they made Akashi’s head spin. 

Flicking back through the weeks, Akashi wasn’t sure it was humanly possible to fit this much in a day, yet there it was: school, basketball training, matches, meet ups with the generation of miracles, and then right beside it, doubled and tripled up, shoots and interviews and work commitments. He appeared to have a more than full-time job, on top of school, on top of a training schedule, on top of a social life. Although a quick look showed that they were his only social life. Despite Akashi’s harsh words about Kise’s commitment, he had to admit he took his relationship with his former team mates very seriously. But this schedule… No wonder he was tired. 

Drumming his fingers on the table, Akashi considered. What could possibly be going on for Kise. Why was he taking on so much work? And why wasn’t his manger doing anything about it? Fingers stilling, Akashi thought about Kise’s shoes. The shoes of the only person who lived here. 

“Oh.”

It was so simple. Yet it was so Kise. 

For all of his friendliness, Kise was a person whose loved ones were important. He held his close friends dear – his efforts at keeping them together in their final year at Teiko speaking volumes. Kise needed his friends - hence why their basketball games were the first thing in the diary. Hence why he filled his days to overflowing. 

Kise was better at hiding things than he used to be. Of course, he saw a lot less now that Kise was at Kaijo and the rest of the miracles scattered, a lot less of them all. Yet Akashi still felt the tingle of responsibility – he was, after all, the former captain of the Generation of Miracles. It did raise the question though: was Kaijo’s captain aware? Making a decision he knew Kise would hate (ah it was lonely at the top) Akashi took a photo of the last few weeks of Kise’s work diary, and sent it through to Kasamatsu, Kise's current captain. 

The reply came back quickly. 

_Who’s this_

Then immediately after

_wtf? Kise’s diary?_

And then Akashi’s phone rang. 

“I’m assuming you’re one of the Teiko crew. Probably that former captain. Akashi.”

“Yes. This is Akashi Seijuurou. It’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Kasamatsu-san.”

“Is Kise okay?”

Akashi couldn’t help a small smile. Kise had a good captain. 

“Right now he is sleeping. He missed an engagement with us, and Ryouta has never missed one of our basketball meetups without letting me know.”

There was a thoughtful humming. “That thing you sent, that _is_ his diary, right?”

“I believe so.”

“Right. Well, I guess I’m coming round.”

That was a little surprise. “You really don’t need too-“

“Tell me, Akashi, if you didn’t expect me to do something about it, why’d you send me pages and pages of Kise’s overcommitments?”

It was a fair question. “Ah. I just wanted to be sure that you knew. Because I don’t think it’s going to get much better. In fact,” Akashi paused. He wasn’t sure how much Kise wanted people to know. Well, actually that wasn’t true – Kise didn’t want anyone to know anything. But at the same time, he was killing himself. Nodding, Akashi continued. “Despite the fact that we, the Generation of Miracles are so talented-“

“Is there any point to this egotistical rambling?”

“The point is, in some ways I know we come across as mature. And in some ways we are, but Ryouta is only sixteen, and is not coping – his diary shows that, but also concerningly, it seems like he’s living here alone. And has been for some time.”

Kasamatsu exploded, which Akashi really should have seen coming. 

“What’s that brat doing living by himself? And if you think that is going to stop me coming round-“

“Please, Kasamatsu-san, Ryouta doesn’t know we’re here-“

“We? Whose we?”

“All his former teammates and Kagami Taiga.”

Blowing out a breath on the other end, Akashi gave Kasamatsu time to think. “Tell him to call me. If he doesn’t call me by seven, I’m coming round regardless.”

Although Kasamatsu couldn’t see, Akashi nodded. “Thank you, Kasamatsu-san.”

~o~

With dinner finally prepared, Kagami looked at the dishes with no small amount of satisfaction. Then his face dropped. 

“No wonder that was such hard work! Wasn’t Murasakibara meant to help?”

“I was the taste tester, Kaga-chin.” 

Murasakibara looked as bland as always, but Kagami was pretty sure that smug was colouring his tone. He hadn’t even entered the kitchen until the smell of delicious food started to fill the house. Scowling, Kagami pointed at the dishes. 

“You can start making yourself useful and carry those out. Oh! Make sure there are pot holders or something on the table. Knowing Kise, his table is expensive.”

With a vague nod, Murasakibara started carrying the pot of curry out. Without any pot holders.

Squawking, Kagami ran after him. “Can you find plates and cutlery, Kuroko?”

Nodding, Kuroko took off towards the cupboards, and in not too long the dinner table was set and ready for the meal to be served. Giving the kitchen a final check, making sure he hadn’t missed anything, Kuroko headed back into the dining room. Everyone was already seated at the table, and some of them - _Murasakibara-kun, we should wait for everyone_ , _but I’m huuuungry, Kuro-chin_ \- had already started. Shaking his head, Kagami looked up to find Kise wobbling in the doorway.

“Shit, Kise! Are you alright?”

Before he could get round the table, Aomine and Midorima were up. They gently supported him to a seat, and then promptly had a fight over who would sit next to him. Akashi stopped that. 

“Taiga, you take the seat next to Ryouta. Shintarou, Daiki, take a seat.”

Much to Kagami’s surprise, when everyone was finally settled and served, Akashi ignored Kise, instead starting a conversation with Midorima, who was seated opposite him. Other, quiet conversations started up, although nearly everyone kept a corner of their eye on Kise. 

Who was staring around the room, wide eyed. Finally, his gaze settled back on Kagami. 

“Ohhhh! That apron looks good on you, Kagamicchi!”

Looking down at himself, Kagami suddenly saw the very… feminine and frilly thing he was wearing. It was very Kise, to tell the truth. Kagami felt a bit weird with the lace. 

“Don’t normally consider myself a lace kind of guy. And it’s the wrong size – pulls at the neck a bit.”

Kise looked surprised for a moment, then smiled. “I haven’t used it for cooking. I’m not the best at it, and I think that was a housewarming gift? So, I’m glad it got used. But… uh… speaking of housewarming gifts, why is everyone here?”

“You missed our basketball game and didn’t inform me. And then ignored all my messages.”

So, Akashi had been listening. Turning to look at Akashi, Kise’s mouth formed a surprised _oh_. 

“My apologies, Akashicchi! I think my phone must have run out of battery. I’ll just go and get it-“

Kise went to jump up, but Akashi’s hand shot out, and pulled him back down. 

“Not now, Ryouta. We will eat, and then talk, and then you may go and check your phone.”

Looking a little flustered, Kise obediently picked up his spoon. The sighing softly, put it back down. Turning to Kagami, he spoke quietly, as if trying to hide the conversation from the rest of the room.

“It smells wonderful, Kagamicchi, but I don’t think I can eat right now.”

“Why is that, Ryouta?”

“Oi, Kise. It’s not some stupid diet, is it?”

“No no nonononno,”Kise quickly informed them. “I’m just tired. And when I’m this tired it’s hard to eat. I will definitely heat this up tomorrow and-“

“Why are you so tired, Ryouta?”

It was quite overwhelming how relentless Akashi could be. The pleasant and calm tone made it somehow more intense.

“Uh… I’m just… not…” Kise was desperately trying to figure out what he could say that would get Akashi off his back. “I’m just a… not sleeping enough.”

Akashi put down his spoon. Pulling a fresh handkerchief out of nowhere, he dabbed at the non existent spot by his mouth before giving Kise his full attention. 

“You missed basketball. You failed to stay in contact. Your diary indicates that you are working in such a way that gives little to no down time. You are living here alone. And you are not coping. Something’s going to give, Kise, so you may as well talk to me so I make a decision you can live with. Because, this stops tonight.”

~o~

Kise didn’t talk. Kise sulked and muttered about how he was a _working man_ capable of making his own decisions. Which everyone in the room ignored, since it was patently obvious that Kise was _not_ capable. In fact, it wasn’t too long before he fell asleep again, falling against Kagami’s shoulder. Poor Kagami looked like he didn’t know what do. He didn’t have long to stress about it, before there was a loud knock at the door, jolting Kise from sleep. 

Looking at his watch, Akashi frowned. Just after seven. The banging started again. Kise shakily found his legs, but Akashi strode ahead, opening the door to Kise’s captain. 

“Kasamatsu-san.” Akashi bowed slightly. “You must have left before seven.”

“And yet, here we are after seven, and no message from Kise.” Kasamatsu kicked his shoes off and strode through the room. Kise wore a look of shock. 

“Senpai?”

“Right, let’s see your diary.”

“What? No! Why-“

Obviously, Kaijo’s captain knew how his ace worked. Ignoring Kise’s complaints, he found the diary on the table, and looked through it. 

“Kise, this is ridiculous. You have to cut something. Is it going to be modeling or basketball?”

The room winced. Kise looked like he was going to cry. 

“Senpai, you can’t just come in and-“

“Actually, that reminds me, don’t you have a manager? Isn’t their job to _manage_?”

Kise went bright red. Kasamatsu and Akashi narrowed their eyes at the blonde. They weren’t the only ones. 

“I.. I mean, I _do_ , and Sugiyama-san does a very good job, and-“

Kise petered off as Kasamatsu held out an imperious hand. Akashi had to admit he was impressed. Kise played with the bottom of his shirt. 

“I… my phone is out of battery and-“

“I started it charging when we got here, Kise-kun. As you can see, there is plenty of battery life now.”

Betrayed golden eyes sort out placid blue ones. 

“Kurokocchi, how could you?”

Realising he wasn’t going to win, Kise snatched his phone and unlocked it. Then winced. “I… I should probably deal with th- _senpai_!” 

This time Kasamatsu grabbed the phone, and seeing the missed call from _Sugiyamacchi-san_ retuned the call immediately. 

“Kise, you should have called me immediately. I’ve booked a shoot for tonight and-“

“This is Kasamatsu Yukio. I’m Kise’s basketball captain. A pleasure to meet you.”

There was silence, before Kise’s manager replied hesitantly, “I see?”

“It has come to my attention that Kise, first year high school student, and basketball ace, is overcommitted. _Extremely_ overcommitted. And his schooling and basketball take priority.”

Kasamatsu waited patiently for the response, watching Kise nervously ring his hands together. 

“Excuse me, Sugiyama-san, I just need to ask Kise something.” 

Holding the phone against his chest, he pinned Kise with his captain’s glare. “Anything you want to tell me, brat, before I have this conversation?”

“I… it’s… it’s not Sugiyamacchi’s fault! I told her I needed to be busy, so she was only doing what I asked!”

Kasamatsu glared harder. “And why exactly do you need to be busy? You have school. You have basketball – that’s full time just by itself, so why do you need this,” and Kasamatsu gestured violently at the diary, still openly showing his guilt on the table.

Bottom lip poking out, Kise looked away. But Kasamatsu didn’t back down. Finally, with a bone deep sigh, Kise relented. 

“It gets lonely here. I come back here after school, after work, after training, and everything is just quiet and lonely. And I just got sick of it. Sugiyamacchi has been asking me to do more work, so I said yes.”

It was as honest as Kise got. Kasamatsu glared at him, and Kise looked away then jumped as he made eye contact with a furious Aomine. He’d been so focused on Kasamatsu and his damn phone, he’d actually forgotten the rest of the miracles were there. Lowering his face to his hands, he hid away. Embarrassing and weak. That’s how he felt. 

“I see, and did you at any point ask-“

Sighing, Kise closed his eyes. This was horrible. If only he’d woken up and gone to basketball. Or skipped the nap and gone to basketball, or-

“Ow!”

Rough hands pushed Kise’s head onto a hard shoulder. 

“You’re thinking too much. You were never good at that.”

“Oh, like you can talk!”

“At least I’m not the one who fell asleep instead of playing. You’ll never catch up if you can’t even keep your eyes open.”

Kise did open an eye at that, to scowl at Aomine. Before he could snip back, Kasamtasu had finished his phone call and was handing him back his phone. 

“Right. Well, you’re not going to like it, but for the next six months either I, or Akashi are going to approve your work.”

Kise say up at that. “Senpai, no-“

“And at that point I’ll reassess to see if needs to continue.” Kasamatsu shook his head. “I know you don’t like this, Kise, but you are on the edge right now. I’ve been worried about you, and now I feel guilty that I didn’t follow up before this.”

“No, Senpai-“

“But now I know, I’m going to make sure you don’t collapse from exhaustion. Sorry, Kise, but you don’t get a choice in this. You had so many options, the top one being _talking to me_ , or one of the other third years if you didn’t feel comfortable, but instead you did this, and it’s not sustainable. So, in a way, you’re benched.”

“I’m what!” Kise shrieked, and half the room covered their ears. 

“School and basketball are the priorities, and your work commitments are going to be extremely reduced and very well regulated. Your manager apologises by the way, and will again in person, for not checking in even once to see if you were okay.”

And wow. Kasamatsu’s was _angry_. But so was Kise. And frustrated that his eyes were filled with angry tears. Dashing them away, he stood up, shaking off Aomine’s hand. 

“But, senpai, I _can’t_ , I need to-“

“Akashi will organise the social side-“

“The _what_?”

“And I’ll try and organise some more things at school-“

“Oh my god,” Kise moaned, collapsing back into his seat, and hiding his head in Aomine’s shoulder. “Just kill me now. Please, I’m never going to survive the humiliation, and _ow_ , senpai!!!”

Kise clutched his head, offended stare aimed straight at Kasamatsu, who was calmly putting his karate chopping hand back in his pocket. 

“Enough of that shit, Kise. You are overworked and lonely-“ Kasamatsu ignored Kise’s dramatic death gurgle, “and this is what friends and senpai’s are for.” Now Kasamatsu frowned at Kise. “I’m going to be honest, Kise, I’m not very comfortable with you living alone. You’re still a kid. Where are your parents, anyway?”

“Oh. Uh… working. Papacchi got a job in Europe, and Mamacchi went with him. They were meant to come and visit at Christmas, but Papacchi got busier, so they are going to try and come next Christmas and-“

“You haven’t seen your parents in five months?” 

Blinking at his senpai, Kise gave a nervous smile. “Uh, no… no it’s actually been over a year, but-“

“Kise!”  
“Kise-kun!”  
“Ryouta.”

Wincing he leaned back into Aomine. “I wasn’t in Kanagawa the whole time! Because last year I was at school in Tokyo and-“

Kise trailed off, but he didn’t really need to say more. The last year at Teiko hadn’t been great. They were shattering as a team and Kise’s issue had seemed to small. 

“I blame myself,” Akashi said, only to squawk for perhaps the first time in his life and look at Kasamatsu who’d none too gently given his head a chop. Kise was thrilled – not only because senpai was getting _Akashi_ , but because _senpai_ wasn’t getting him! 

“You keep up that attitude and I’ll remove your name from Kise’s manager’s contact list.” Kasamatsu barreled over Akashi’s offended response. “You said it yourself. You may be the generation of miracles, but _all_ of you are currently a bunch of dramatic, first year brats. You should rely on your senpai’s more. Most of who’ll I’ll be talking to in the next week-“

“You can’t do that! Evil glasses guy’ll-“  
“Eh? Why am I even part of this? I’m not a miracle-“  
“We’re on the same team, Kagami-kun.”  
“This is ridiculous-“  
“ _I’m_ the captain-“

“-are you seriously telling me, that after today, you’re going to back off and leave Kise alone?”

The loud voice of Kasamatsu filled the space, cutting off all the complaints. The boys looked at each other, although it was a relieved Kise who piped up with-

“Of course, senpai! Kanagawa is out of the way, so-“

This time it was Kise who was interrupted, and crossing his arms over his chest, Kasamatsu looked them over. Kise still looked exhausted, and that wasn’t going to change any time soon. And he’d probably have a rolling series of guests, at least on weekends – although looking at some of these stubborn faces, all of them would share the commuting. 

“Kise.”

It warmed his heart to see Kise immediately look to him. Yes, he was still a flighty and self-adsorbed brat, but unlike most of the rest, he respected his senpais. 

“Make sure you’re on time to everything, even if you stay in Tokyo. I’m going to be watching you-“

Because when it came down to it, he was a stupid first year who lacked common sense and logic, Kise looked back at him, confused.

“Why would I be in Tokyo if I’m working less that doesn’t- _Aominecchi! Some parts of me are soft and delicate _!”__

__Smiling contentedly, Kasamatsu took a seat at the table, and served himself up some curry. A weight he hadn’t known he’d been carrying had eased off his shoulder, knowing his ace was going to be okay. As he watched these scarily talented high schoolers rough house and one up each other, he thought that things might work out for the best._ _

__~o~_ _

__And he was right._ _

**Author's Note:**

> a/n: so it’s one endless string of sleepovers in various mixtures and various people’s places. Kise still doesn’t get enough sleep because at heart he is a teenage girl who gossips at every sleepover, but he isn’t heartsore and lonely, and this actually improves everyone quality of life, although the captains (sans Akashi) now have a group chat where they complain about their Miracles, and Kasamatsu thinks that he lucked out with his talented, if bratty, drop of sunshine.


End file.
